Where Were They?

Yesterday, Markos put up a post about Speaker Denny Hastert and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi issuing a statement blasting the Justice Department for searching Congressman William Jefferson's office. They're claiming that the search violated the separation of powers clause of the constitution. I'm not going to argue whether the search did or didn't violate the Constitution.

But since Denny Hastert and Nancy Pelosi care so much for constitutional law, I'd like to know where they were on in September 2001 when they gave President Bush the authority to unilaterally declare war on any country, for any reason, at any time? Article I Section 8 of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power to declare war. So, if Hastert and Pelosi want to pull their Sonny and Cher routine, I want to know why they're concerned about separation of powers now, but weren't so concerned when George W. Bush started his illegal war.

For that matter, where were they when President Bush and his Republican cronies in Congress rammed the Patriot Act down our throats? I didn't hear any concern for my civil liberties or for the separation of powers then.